Insider Exclusive: Howard Kurtz Takes on Stephen Colbert

Howard Kurtz gave Fox News Insider an exclusive blog previewing this Sunday's Media Buzz. Check it out below and tune in to Media Buzz, Sunday at 11a/ 5p ET on Fox News Channel!

It’s about time someone took on Stephen Colbert.

This guy—a fake anchor if ever there was one—has been maligning hard-working journalists for too long.

Journalists like me.

In an effort to get a few cheap laughs, this Comedy Central clown took my work out of context and, worse, engaged in selective editing. It was nothing less than a deliberate attempt to mislead viewers.

I’ll be responding in spades on Sunday's “Media Buzz.”

And we’ll be talking about the issue that prompted the contretemps—whether it’s fair for the media to raise questions about Hillary Clinton’s age.

I raised this on “Special Report,” noting that her age (she’ll turn 69 just before the election) was hardly a secret. Colbert twisted this into “Fox News has just uncovered the bombshell of a lifetime.”

I pointed out that veteran Washington handicapper Charlie Cook had written a column asking whether Hillary was too old to run for president. That got left on Colbert’s cutting-room floor. Didn’t fit the narrative.

Colbert deviously compared Hillary’s age to that of Ronald Reagan, who was also 69 when he took office—ignoring the fact that I’d done the very same thing. I even played a clip of the Gipper! Did this so-called anchor have time to show that? Uh-uh.

And Colbert gave himself cover by saying: “I know it’s rude to talk about someone’s age, but that’s not what I’m doing.” Instead, “I am talking about people talking about other people talking about other people talking about a woman’s age. That’s called journalism.”

No, it’s not. It’s not even terribly truthy. And he didn’t even note that I had said Clinton’s detractors could trigger a backlash if they start harping on the age question.

Now Colbert was perfectly nice to me when I was once on his show, but it’s now clear he was just trying to disarm me for future attacks. Well, two can play this game, buddy.

If I really want to get down in the dirt with him, I might even try to be funny.